Development of a dynamic model of a small high-speed autonomous underwater vehicle

A dynamic model is developed for a small, highspeed autonomous underwater vehicle. The vehicle has the unusual property of weighing up to 50 percent more than its displacement, and we seek to characterize requirements for steady-state flight Imposed by the vehicles's weight. The process of deriving a dynamic model, which is presented in a tutorial manner, highlights problems that arise when the dynamics of a submersible are expressed in terms of linear and angular momenta and combined with experimentally derived hydrodynamic coefficients.